Performance and emissions of a spark ignition engine operated with gasoline supplemented with pyrogasoline and ethanol

Abstract

The partial replacement of fossil fuels by biofuels contributes to a reduction of CO₂ emissions, alleviating the greenhouse effect and climate changes. Furthermore, fuels produced from waste biomass materials have no impact on agricultural land use and reduce deposition of such wastes in landfills. In this paper we evaluate the addition of pyrolysis biogasoline (pyrogasoline) as an additive for fossil gasoline. Pyrogasoline was produced from used cooking oils unfit to produce biodiesel. This study was based on a set of engine tests using binary and ternary mixtures of gasoline with 0, 2.5, and 5% pyrogasoline and ethanol. The use of ternary blends of gasoline and two different biofuels was tested with the purpose of achieving optimal combustion conditions and lower emissions, taking advantage of synergistic effects due to the different properties and chemical compositions of those biofuels. The tests were performed on a spark-ignition engine, operated at full load (100% throttle, or WOT—wide open throttle) between 2000 and 6000 rpm, while recording engine performance and exhaust gases pollutants data. Binary mixtures with pyrogasoline did not improve or worsen the engine’s performance, but the ternary mixtures (gasoline + pyrogasoline + ethanol) positively improved the engine’s performance with torque gains between 0.8 and 3.1% compared to gasoline. All fuels presented CO and unburned hydrocarbons emissions below those produced by this type of engine operated under normal (fossil) gasoline. On the other hand, NO_x emissions from oxygenated fuels had contradictory behaviour compared to gasoline. If we consider the gains achieved by the torque with the ternary mixtures and reductions in polluting emissions obtained by mixtures with pyrogasoline, a future for this fuel can be foreseen as a partial replacement of fossil gasoline.